Eugene bretney



2(No Model.) V E. BRETNBY.

DUST COLLECTOR. v 10.400,391'. Patented Mar. 26, 1889.

Itmllmmi 7L il .fill/1111111 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE BRETNEY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO'THE BRETNEY DUST COLLECTOR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

DUST-'COLLECTO R.

srEcnsIcA'rioN forming pm of Letters Patent No. 400,391, dated March 2e, 1889. Apliiaion nea september 22,1887. serai No. 250,428. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, EUGENE BRETNEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis', in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dust-Collectors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of dustcollectors for flour and other mills in which the separation of the dust particles from or the purication of the air is accomplished in a dust-chamber Without the use of any ltering material Whatever; and it has for its 0bject to produce a machine of this class of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction which will effectually purify the air and collect the dust and prevent .the latter clogging the machine and steadily and automatically feed the dust deposit out of the same; and it consists in various improvements in the details of construction, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this. specification, Figure l is a side elevation, p artly broken away, of my improved 'dust-collector; Fig. 2, a plan view ofthe machine, partly broken away; and Fig. 3, a detail view.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A represents the cylindrical shell, and B the inverted cone or funnel, rigidly secured to the y lower end of the shell and forming the bottom thereof. These two parts-the shell and its bottom-may be formed of one piece of sheet metal, if desired, or they may be each provided with a laterally-projecting flange, and the same `riveted or bolted together to form a smooth surface on the interior and an airtight joint An air-tight partition, C, is se cured to the walls of theV shell, and through- `which extends a tube, D, concentric with the shell. The partition C is spirally curved or trends downwardly in the shell and winds around the tube D for a part of the length of the latter, making but one turn, however, around said tube, and forming an outward and downward deiiector, and as the spiral curve which is given the head necessarily brings one of its ends below the other, and as the ends are in line vertically, of course a space is left between the two at their terminal points which I utilize as the inlet-opening, a, the air-spout being fitted to this opening in a line tangential to the shell in any desired manner, the end of the spout entering an opening formed in the shell above the lower end of the partition and terminating at the inlet-opening a. The spiral partition C is inclined from its outer edge toward its inner edge at an angle of about forty-live degrees, so that the dust-laden air-current will be delected outward toward the wall of the shell as well as downward, the object of this inclination of the partition being to throw the dust which rides on the current against the wall of the shell, so that when the lower end of the 7o tube or cylinder D is reached it will not be drawn into the same bythe current and escape with the air passing through said tube or cylinder. The tube D is flush with the upper edge of the shell, and extends into the same a suitable distance-about two-thirds the length of the cylindrical shell-said shell being closed by an air-tight cover which surrounds the tube.

The inverted cone or funnel B is closed at its bottom by means of a cap, b, having a screw-threaded perforation therein, through which the screw-rod c passes. This rod carries at its upper end or head within the cone a suitable step, d, so that the upright shaft E, which rests in the same and passes up through the cone and shell and through the tube D, may be adjusted as desired by merely applying a tool to the rod and turning the same. The lower end of the cone or funnel B is provided with slots e,in the sides of the wall of the same, through which the dust may escape.

At or near the lower end of the shaft E a deilector, F, is secured, so as to surround the same and leave a narrow circular passage be- 95 tween it and the wall of the cone. This deiiector is shown as cone-shaped; but it is obvious that other shapes or forms may be given it to secure the result sought-t1 e., the deflection of the air upwardly and the pasroo sage of the material between its periphery and the wall of the cone or funnel. This particular form of deiiector (the cone) is, however, possessed of cert-ain peculiar advantages which constitute it an independent invention, and I have therefore made it the broad subj ect-matter of another application, No. 238,851, filed May 20, 1887. The adjustability of the delector (herein shown as effected through the above-described adjustment of the rod E) I also regard as my invention, broadly, and have made it the subject-matter of my application, No. 274,493, tiled May 2l, 1888. To this deiiector I may attach in any suitable manner eonveyer iiights or Scrapers g, whereby the rotation of the shaft E will cause the ights or scrapers to sweep any material which may be deposited under the deflector out of the machine through the slots e. As will be explained hereinafter, these flights are not always or absolutely necessary to the successful operation of the machine; but as they perform a useful function I may use them when found desirable.

At its upper end the shaft E carries awindwheel, H, of any desired or known construction, the only requisite being that the blades or wings thereof be so set that a current of air from below upwardly through the concentric tube within which the wheel is located may turn the same, and thus rotate the shaft E. The wheel is adj ustably attached to the shaft, so that it may be moved up and down thereon, as desired, and its blades are made adjustable in the hub, so that they may be adjusted to any desired angle of inclination to vary the distance between them. The upper end of the shaft is supported in a bearing formed in a 'cross-bar, f, which extends across the machine and is secured to the shell. The slots e may be provided with sliding doors, so that they may be covered or uncovered or the size of the openings regulated at pleasure.

It has been found in the practical operation of this class of dust-collectors that the aircurrent when leaving the machine invariably carries with it the very finest particles of dust, and no machine with which I am familiar is free from this objectionable feature. It has also been discovered that this fine dust escapes with the air which passes up into the tube D immediately upon reaching the end of the same. This is owing to the fact that the dust is so light that the centrifugal force imparted to it is not sufficient to overcome the strength of the blast or air-current, and it is therefore carried into the tube and up the wall of the same and out of the machine. It is also a fact that the main outward current of air spreads or expands when it reaches the tube and whirls up the wall of the same, and that a central downward current enters the open mouth of the tube and meets the upward the upward current. The dust thus escaping is the very finest and lightest, and therefore the most dangerous to the health of the operatives, as well as the most liable to become ignitedand cause the destruction of the mill. For the purpose of curing these defects, to which the above-described machine is also subject, I have made a slot, h, in the wall of the tube D, which follows the spiral direction of partition C around one-half of the tube, being on the side opposite that which is adjacent the inlet-opening 0 and at the opening a, I have left a space or opening, h', between the outer wall of the tube D and the end of the spout. Thus it will be seen that I form a chamber in the upper part of the shell A, the top of which is the covering for said shell, the bottom being the partition t), and the end wall being formed by the side of the spout within the shell, said chamber communicating with the interior of tube D by the slot h, and also having a vent at h at the mouth of the spout.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The current of dust-laden air is forced into the machine through a pipe or spout, one end of which is fitted to the inlet-opening a between the ends of the partition by any desired form of fan, so that the current willenter the machine at a tangent to the wall of the shell, and, circulating around the tube D, will be directed outwardly and downwardly or spirally by the partition C, the dust bein gthrown into the angle formed by the shell and the inclined partition, where it assumes the form of a rope, and upon leaving the end of the same will maintain the whirling motion which it has thus acquired downwardly along and against the inner surface of the wall of the shell and its conical bottom, the dust being thrown outwardly against said wall, and down which it gravitates or is carried by the whirling current in a spiral or Winding direction unt-il it reaches the deiiector, where the separation of the dust from the air occurs, the dust passing between the lower edge or periphery of the deiiector and the wall of the conical bottom, and, maintaining the whirling movement given it by the current of air, escapes from the machine through the slots in the wall, or through the open bottom of the same, While the current of air is turned by the defiector inwardly, and, descending the same, passes up through the center of the chamber, still maintaining its rotary or whirling movement, enters the tube D, and while escaping from the same rotates the wheel H and shaft E, and thus gives a rotary movement to the defiector with its iiights or Scrapers, to sweep out of the machine any material which may be deposited under the deiector, to prevent the clogging of the machine by any accumulation of dust at this point. The fine dust which is carried out of the shell and into the tube by the air which firsts escapes is carried whirling up the inner surface of the tube until it reaches the slot h, where it passes IOO IIO

into the chamberover the partition, its passage being materially assisted `by a suctioncurrent, which is created by the blast entering the machine, sucking the air through the opening h at its mouth, thus drawing the fine dust through the opening h into the main draft or blast, with which it is again forced into the shell and again subjected to treatment, the result being that only the slightest, if any, quantity of dust is ejected or escapes from the machine with the air-current.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl.

l. The combination, with a cylindrical dustcollecting chamber having a conical bottom provided with a suitable outlet-opening and a concentric tube within said chamber, of a spirally-curved or winding partition arranged between the inner surface of the Wall of the chamber and the outer surface of the wall of the tube, said chamber having an inlet-opening adapted to receive the current of dustladen air at a tangent to the wall of the chamber, and a suitable deflector, as set forth.

2. The combination, with a cylindrical dustcollecting chamber having a tapering bottom provided with a discharge-outlet, a tube secured Within said chamber, a spirally-curved and inclined partition surrounding said tube,

andan inlet in said chamber opening between the ends of said partition, of a deilector supported in the tapering bottom, so that the dust may escape between it and the wall of the bottom, as set forth.

3. The combination, with a cylindrical dustcollecting chamber having a conical bottom,

inlet and outlet openings, and a concentric tube within said chamber, of a spirally-curved and inclined partition connecting the inner surface of the chamber with the outer surface of the tube, whereby a current of air may be forced into said chamber, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a cylindrical dustcollecting chamber havingaconicalbottom,in let and outlet openings, and a spirally-curved and inclined partition, of a concentric tube having aslot in its wall, an air-spout entering said chamber, and avent or opening adjacent to the mouth of said spout, whereby a draft is created through the slot in the tube above the partition, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Iafix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

EUGENE BRETNEY. l

Vitnesses:

ROBINSON WHITE, C. E. BRAINARD. 

